The Associated Press |
Survivalist and television personality Bear Grylls is the star of Netflix’s “You vs. Wild,” an interactive video project the company released in April. Full-motion video games are making a comeback in a wave of interactive movies and TV series that have released over the past year.

As technology improves, the lines between games and films have become blurry

Recent interactive releases from Netflix and other companies indicate that more projects of its kind are coming down the pipeline.

Play

“You vs. Wild” and “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” are both available on Netflix.

Written by Chris DeAntonio - Reading Eagle

As technology improves, the lines between games and films have become blurry. While full-motion video (FMV) games have been around since the 1980s, modern games have continued to refine games that can be effectively be called interactive movies.

With series from the now-defunct Telltale Games, and other games like last year's “Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier,” it's no surprise that filmmaking companies such as Netflix are looking to try their hand at video game development.

Netflix's first mainstream entry into interactive movies was 2018's “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.” “Bandersnatch,” like Netflix's other recent interactive movies and television shows, boils down to just selecting between two options at certain points in the narrative. Most recently, Netflix has had success with “You vs. Wild,” an interactive version of the popular Discovery Channel show, “Man vs. Wild,” which stars Bear Grylls.

In “You vs. Wild,” certain elements of the show are separated by a choice. Do you send Bear Grylls across a ravine by crossing a log, or should he swing across on a vine? Fortunately, you can't kill Bear Grylls while watching, but you can get your progress halted or set back.

While FMV games were popular in the 1980s, the trend faded away as modern graphics improved and stories became easier to tell through high-quality animation. On the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Mario could not emote, given the limitations, but Dirk the Daring from the popular “Dragon's Lair” was an expressive protagonist, which is just one advantage FMV games provided.

While FMV disappeared, the gameplay mechanics of adventure games and other point-and-click games lived on in games like Telltale's “The Walking Dead,” and “The Wolf Among Us,” among other titles. Those games mainly consisted of simply walking around, interacting with objects, and choosing dialogue options. Quick-time events were thrown in as well, but the gameplay depth was more present in Telltale's games than it was in other adventure games.

“Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier,” which released in 2018, is the closest comparison to Netflix's video game ventures, as the game consists of solely choosing between two options when prompts appear.

So while it's debatable whether Netflix's interactive movies are games or not, it's clear that they can trace their roots to classic video game titles. “You vs. Wild” is a fun and campy trip through the jungle, even if you have to watch Bear Grylls eat termites or grubs.

Netflix is clearly making a heavy investment into these projects as well — the company plans on attending the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June this year. Expect to see more experiences like “Bandersnatch” and “You vs. Wild” from Netflix in the future as well.

Contact Chris DeAntonio: cdeantonio@readingeagle.com.

Play

“You vs. Wild” and “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” are both available on Netflix.